Tobacco stemming machine



Jan. 12, 1932. c, w GOOCHV JR 1,840,355

TOBACCO STEMMING MACHINE Fi led Feb. 5, 1929 s Sheets-Sheet 1 -1 R10, Li- Q Jan. 12, 1932. c w GOQCH, JR 1,840,355

TOBACCO STEMMING MACHINE Filed Feb. 5, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 [ga e Wald, 7,2," 29 w- Jan. 12, 1932.

C. W. GOOCH, JR

TOBACCO STEMMING MACHINE Filed Feb. 5. 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Jan. 12, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLAIBORNE W. GOOCH, .13., OF LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO TOBACCO STEM- MING MACHINE COMPANY, OF LYNCHIBURG, VIRGINIA, A CORPORATION OF DELA- WARE I Application filed February 5, 1929.

- gripping elements and, in the case of machines having butt cleaners, from the latter to the feeding operator of the stemming machine proper, as well as improvements in the stemming mechanism and the means for clearing the same of strip tobacco. These improvements, together with others involved in the invention, will be fully described hereinafter.

' ,A tobacco stemming machine of the same general character as that to which my invention relates-in other Words, a machine to which the present improvements may be applied either in addition to the structure thereof or in substitution for parts or features of such structureis disclosed in Patent No. 1,689,171, granted October 23, 1928 jointly to A. L. Ewers and myself. The

- patented machine describes in a comprehensive manner the operations involved in handling and stemming tobacco leaves, and

reference may be had thereto for a complete explanation of these operations, for which reason an extended discussion of the details of the operations in question as well as the precise functions of parts or devices common to' the two constructions will be omitted from the present specification as being unneces sa'ry. My invention, as will be apparent from the above, seeks to simplify the construction and operation of the patented machine,

besides rendering it more efficient in various respects.

In the acompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a part-sectional side elevation 1 of a machine constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view ofthe stemmingrolls and their associated cleaning devices;

Fig. 2a is a longitudinal section of a stemming roll;

Fig. 2?) is a diagram showing an upper and a lower stemming blade of thecorresponding rolls in operative position;

Fig- 2c is a view similar to Fig. 2?), but

TOBACCO STEMMING MACHINE Serial No. 337,651.

showing opposing blades of different contour,

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the butt cleanin g and feeding mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail, partly in section, of the mechanism shown in Figs. 3 and 4 Figs. 6, 6a, 6b and represent four steps or stages in the cycle of feeding the leaves to the grippers.

Stemming mechanism and means for cleanmy the same frame. Each belt carries a series of spaced leaf gripper bars 10 having mating, ribbed gripping faces which fit together as the grippers meet between the front sprockets 6 and proceed as a unit to the rear end (the right end in Fig. 1) of the machine where they separate, turning around the upper and lower sprockets 8, and return to the feed end of the machine to complete the cycle. Each pair of grippers is spaced equally from the others at a sufficient distance apart so that separate charges of tobacco may be fed and acted upon separately.

The stemming mechanism is composed of a series of rigid toothed or serrated blades 11a and 12a mounted longitudinally in a pair of superposed rolls 11 and 12 which extend horizontally across the machine and which are fixed, respectively, to upper and lower hori- J jacent arms 15 and 16 are linked together by a stud or finger 19 on arm 15 which engages in a fork or recess 20 on the other arm 16, so that a rocking movement imparted to the latter arm will thus be transmitted to the former, the two arms rocking or swinging in unison toward or from each other, as the case may be. v

In the construction illustrated, as in the patented construction, the lower arm 16 is positively rocked by means of a cam follower 21 attached thereto and engaging in a cam track or groove 22 formed in a disk 23, itself rotated in any desired manner in the direction of the arrow. Arm 16 is here shown as about to. rock counter-clockwise or downward, so that arm 15 will. thus move upward at the same time, and the two stemming rolls" will be separated to permit the free passage of a pair of grippers 10 between them. I The cam track 22 is so shaped, and the rotation of the disk 23 is so timed that the rolls open as each pair of grippers approaches them and then closequickly behind the grippers, thus bringing the blades 11a and 12a into contact with the charge of tobacco trailing behind the grippers. The two rolls 11 and 12 rotate slowly and continuously in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows, and their blades serve to strip the membrane from the stems which are caught firmly at their butt ends in the grippers. The stems are carried on to the rear of the machine (to the right in 1), where they fall into a suitable receptacle when the grippers open and release them. The membrane or strip falls from the stripping blades, as hereinafter explained, into another receptacle located below the rolls.

The stripping blades, which will now be described more fully, take the place of the wires or card clothing which is much used for this purpose and which is shown, for example, in the earlier, patented construction. Such clothing, as will be realized, has a limited life, because the wires are apt to break off or fall out of the rolls, and it is one object of my invention to provide a stemming mechanism which is devoid of the limitations of card clothing. t is also desired to avoid the necessity for providing means to guide single leaves. into the circumferential grooves ordinarily formed in stemming rolls of usual character, which grooves are themselves formed with transverse cutting edges, this likewise being accomplished by my improvements.

Referring to Fig. 2, the blades 11a and 12a extend outward from the rolls 11 and 12 and their relation to each other during the stemming operation is such that the blades of one roll mesh with the blades of theother roll, the teeth and spaces of one roll alining, respectively, with the teeth and spaces of the other roll when viewed from the line of travel of the tobacco and grippers as shown in Fig. 2?). As the blades close together on the charge of tobacco, the rounded tops of the teeth in each set of blades tend to deflect the stems of the leaves into the spaces between the teeth of the other set of blades. The stems, being moist and pliant, readily adjust themselves in this maner and are pulled by the grippers 10 through a succession of openings Q provided by the alining tooth spaces, the edges of which openings cut, tear or scrape the strip away, the clean stem continuing with the grippers to the end of the machine.

- By'adjustmentof the follower 21 (Fig. 1) in cam track 22, the stemming blades 11a and 12a may be set to close more or less, making the openings 0 larger or smaller according to the size of the leaf being handled. Track 22may be so designed that the blades are broughtgradually further into mesh as the stems are pulled between them, so that the openings 0 will close gradually around the tapering stems and maintain good contact out to the very fine tips of the stems. This feature is desirable in clean stemming when the entire stem is taken out of the leaf and any membrane left on the stem is a loss.

When only the thick,heavy portion of the stem is to be taken out and the remainder left in the leaf, track 22 will be provided with a quick curve 22a, as shown in Fig. 1, which will cause the blades 11a and 12a to close smartly together, and the openings 0 will be completely closed, thereby cutting oil the stems instantly. This method may be considered as only one way of cutting off the stems at any predetermined point. Movement of either stemming roll relatively to the other in an axial direction will serve to close the openings 0 and sever the stems, and it may thus be considered. that any method of blocking the passage of the stem and thereby causing it to break or be cut is within the scope of this invention. Hence, the invention is not limited to the form illustrated in Figs. 2, 2a and 26, but may undergo modification. For example, Fig. 20 shows a pair of blades in which the blade 11b that'replaces bladella is devoid of teeth, the orifices O in this case being formed by the tooth spaces of. blade 12a and the straight edge of blade 11?) and serving to separate the membrane from the stems. Moreover, either the upper roll 11 or the lower roll 12, or both, may be furnished with teeth differing from those shown.

The'bladeslla' and 12a as illustrated do not project in a truly radial direction from rolls 11 and 12 but are inclined back from the direction of rotation. This is to aid in getting the strip free from the blades and should not be considered in any way essential to the stemming function. V In connection with the foregoing stemming der the functioning of the blades.

7 purpose, I employ a tube 24 which extends across the machine parallel to the axis of he respective roll and which has numerous small orifices 25 at intervals in such position that when compressedair is introduced into tube 24 a multitude of small jets of air are blown in between the blades of the roll, tending to dislodge anything that may be lodged between them. 26 is a fluted wiper roll suitwater into the compressed air or by actually ably journalled at each end and driven in the direction oft-hearrow at a relatively rapid speed in comparison with the associated stemmingroll; this fluted roll being adjusted to just clear the tips of the teeth on. the blades so that it will wipe away the tobacco in the direction of its rotation;

The air used for this purpose is supplied to both sets of cleaning devices from a main pipe 27, through a main control valve 28, to individual supply pipes 29, only one of which is shown. Each individual supply pipe 29 is controlled by a valve 30 individual thereto, so that air for each cleaning device may be regulated. independently; and after setting these individual valves, they need not be disturbed to shut off or turn on the air as this is accomplished by closing or opening the main valve 28 which is located conveniently to the operator. Means may be provded for moistening the blades to prevent tobacco from sticking thereto, and this may be effected in various ways; for instance, by introducing Feeding of leaves In feeding machines of this type, the leaves of tobacco are presented to the grippers so as to be gripped by the butts of the stems.- They may or may not have been previously acted on to clean the membrane from the butts which are to be gripped. My invention provides means for presenting the butts accurately to the gripper bars regardless of whether they have been cleaned beforehand or not. Hence, the means for effecting this positioning will be separately described without reference to the butt-cleaning mechanism which will be described later on in connection with certain other improvements.

Leaves are fed in groups to the grippers which are wide enough to accommodate as many leavesas an operator can conveniently handle with both hands, and it is the duty of the/operator notonly tointroduce the buttsbetween the grippers but also to straighten and spread out the leaves composing each group or charge, so that the butts will be accurately gripped at their extreme ends, and so that the stemming means can act on them efficiently. Other feeding means have been designed which are more or less effective, but they have not been successful in a practical way because they interfere with the spreading out and arranging of the tobacco which is essentially a hand operation unless selected leaf only is being stemmed.

The present invention provides a reciproeating table of relatively short movement, the surface of which is atthe same level and in the same position as the stationary table used in hand feeding. There is no mechanism above this table to interfere with the manipulation of the tobacco by hand, and the table operates so as to materially assist the manual arranging of the tobacco besides insuring automatic feeding of the butts into the grippers. The feeding table is not in tended to take the place of the feeding operator, but it will reduce this operators labor to such an extent that greatly increased production will result. Very little skill and training will be necessary tomake an efficient feeding operator.

The construction of the feed table and its actuating means is as follows: 81 indicates an auxiliary frame at the front or feed end of themachine, which is supported by a beam 32 fastened to brackets 33 which are bolted to the front legs 2 of the main machine. Frame 31 has a rectangular openingin which is located a belt 47 that runs over drums 4-8 which rotate freely on stationary shafts 4L9 suitably attached to said frame. To the lower stretch of belt 47 is hinged one end of a link 50 whose other end is hinged to the upper arm of a lever 51 attached to a spindle 52 journalled to beam 32 or to some other part of the framework; said spindle 52 being provided with a depending member that forms the lower arm of the lever and carries a terminal follower 53 which runs in a cam track 5 on cam 55. Cam 55 is rotatably mounted on stud 56, rigidly mounted on beam 32, and is driven continuously in the direction of the arrow by sprocket 57, chain 58 and sprocket 59, which latter is keyed to the lower front feed shaft 7 This gearing is arranged to give cam 55 one revolution for each movement of a pair of grippers 10 past a given point.

. Cam track 54' is so fashioned that, for each revolution of cam 55, lever 51 is oscillated forward and back twice, both movements taking place during about one-third revolution of the cam. During the remaining two-thirds of the revolution, the lever 51 remains stationary. Lever 51, through link 50, controls the belt 47, causing it to move forward and reverse twice during the cycle,-

with .the dwell portion of cam track 54, table as explained. The feeding table 60 is fastened to the upper stretch of belt 47 and projects beyond. the front roll 48, and it reciprocates backand forth with the movement of .the belt. An abutment 46 is located in front of table 60 (see Figs. 6, 6a, 6b and 60) and is this time the feedin o erator standin at B F1 14 s reads out a char e of tobacco leaves on table 60 and pushes them approxi-' mately into position with the butts alined against abutment 46. The operator needs to give this charge of leaf no further attention but can proceed to untie the next bundle and ,prepare to lay it on table 60 for the next feeding charge. Meanwhile a pair of grippers approaches around the upper and lower sprockets 6; and in a definitely-timed relation to them table moves forward,

. pushing the butts of the leaves against abutment 46 and then sliding or slipping under them as they come in contact with the abutment so that when the table 60' reaches the end of its forward motion, shown in Fig. 6a, the butts have been alined against the abutment'46 and project a fixed distance be yond table 60. Table 60 then moves backward immediately and reaches the position shown in Fig. 6?) just as the lower gripper 1O comes up around the corresponding sprocket 6; said gripper, which is moving continuously, lifting the ahned leaf butts and leaving the tails of the leaves resting on table 60.

The table then moves forward again, passing under the lower gripper, and the tobacco charge moves forward with the butt ends of the leaves supported on said gripper and the tail ends carried by table 60 until the upper gripper, in its descent around the 1 upper sprocket 6, clamps the butts against the lower gripper (Fig. 6c). The table then reverses, assumes the position shown in Fi 6, the charge of tobacco is drawn into the main machine to be stemmed, and the table is ready for another charge.

Buttolean'ing in connection with feeding .Figs. 3 and 4 show butt-cleaning mechanism associatedwith the feeding table just described and embodying certain important improvements over machines now in use.

The. butts are cleaned for a length equal to or slightly in excess of the amount to be gripped by the grippers 10 of he main machine, as is the usual practice. This is done b means of u "361 and lower rolls 41' the former being represented in Fig. 4) which are wound with carding and which revolve on upper and lower shafts 43 journalled in a housing 42 and driven by pulley 44 from a suitable source of power, and the ends of the shafts 43 are also journalled in a housing 45 which contains the necessary gearing to cause them to run in unison. 34 and 36 indicate two feed belts between which the leaves are introduced by the butting operator, as subsequently explained. These belts are dis-' posed in superposed relation with the lower stretch of the upper belt 34 resting on and driven by the upper stretch of the lower belt 36, which latter itself is positively driven. Belt 34 is stretched over idle pulleys 35, while belt 36 travels at its front end around an idle pulley 37 and at its rear end around a driving pulley 38 which is fixed to a shaft 39 connocted to be driven from the main machine in some suitable way. 1

In operation, the butting operator stands at position A (Fig. 4), unties the bundles or hands of tobacco and feeds the leaves, spread out, between the lower stretch of belt 34 and upper stretch of belt 36, usin abutment 40 as a gauge by which to aline the butts. -The layer of leaves thus formeo is forwarded and firmly held between bolts 34 and 36, the butt ends projecting into housing 42 and be tween rolls 41 which clean the leafy portion from the'stem butts for a length of about two inches. In machines of known construction, pulley 38 is located almost directly under the delivery end of belt 34 so that when the layer of tobacco reaches this position it is released and stops its lateral movement. This causes the tobacco leaves to bunch to gether and destroys the layer formation, with the result that the feeding operator, who stands at position B as previouslyv described, has the additional work of taking the bunch or pile of leaves from the delivery end of belts 34 and 36 and spreading them out again in layer formation. In the present construction, this duplication of effort is avoided by making the frame 31 longer and extending belt 36 out further beyond the point when the tobacco is released from the pressure of the upper belt 34. I is necessary to provide additional belts 61 and 64 which runover sheaves 62, 63 and 65, 66 (the two sheaves 63 and 66 being keyed to shaft 39) to support the tail part of the leaves; and it is also necessary to provide a third belt 67 that runs over fast and loose pulleys 68 and 69, the former being keyed to shaft 39. Thus the layer of tobacco, as fed in between belts 34 and 36, will be forwarded along in convenient form for the feeding operator to handle.

In conjunction with the belt 67, there is here provided means shown in detail in Fig. 5), which serve to iron out the butts of the leaves and press them down against said belt. This is especially. desirable because the butts are so agitated by the cleaning rolls 41 that they project up at various angles and need to be ironed down within the thickness of the said rolls in unison away fromand toward to the feed table, and means for ironing out the butts before reaching said table. V 9. A tobacco stemming machine, according to claim 8, in which the ironing means comprises a conveyor belt, a spring finger adapted to press upon said belt, and a rotary said rolls in unisonaway from and toward each other, longitudinal blades carried by the rolls, at least one roll having a blade with equidistantly spaced teeth of uniform size along'its outer edge, for direct coacting engagement with a blade of the otherroll to define openings through which the stems of the leaves are drawn, the edges of which openings strip the membrane from the stems; 12. In a tobacco stemming mechanism, a

the membrane from the stems, and aifluted cleaning roll associated with each stemming roll and disposed with the edges of its flutes in close proximity to the tips of the teeth of said. bladesto wipe off the tobacco there from. 1

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CLAIBORNE W. Goocn, JR,

pair of superposed stemming rolls between which the leaves'are fed, meansfor moving each other, spaced longitudinalblades car- ,ried by the rolls, at least one roll having blades with equidistantly spaced teeth of uniform size alongtheir outer edges, for.

direct coacting engagement with the blades i of the other set to define openings through which the stems of the leaves are drawn, the edges of which openings strip the membrane from the stems. r

13. In a tobacco stemming mechanism, a pair of superposed stemming rolls between which the leaves are 'fed, means for moving said rolls 'in unison away from and toward each other, spaced longitudinal blades carriedby the rolls and inclined slightly backward from the direction of rotation of the respective roll at least one roll having blades with equidistantly spaced teeth of uniform size along their outer edges, for direct c0- acting engagement with the'blades of the other set to define openings through which the stems of the leaves, are drawn, the edges of which openings strip the membrane from the, stems. i

- 14. In a tobaccostemming mechanism, a

pair of coacting' stemming rolls between which the leaves are fed, spaced longitudinal stripping blades carriedby the rolls, atleast one roll having blades with equidistantly v space clteeth of uniform size along their "outer edges, for direct coacting engagement with the blades of the other set to define openings through which the stems of the leaves aredrawn, the edges of which openings strip 

